Page 66 of Apt to be Suspicious
“Before ten, or it’s a bother for Harris, please.” It gave them a solid hour, which was about the right length of time for the conversation Edmund needed to have. Long enough for a number of details, short enough that his family couldn’t prod and pry at them while Edmund was sitting right there. He had no illusions about the fact they’d be up discussing it after he left, of course. But it wasn’t kind to keep the porters up at the Academy, not when there were other options.
Uncle Alexander nodded, twisting to set a timer on the hourglass on the side table without further comment. Edmund had got out of eating in hall by making comments about his parents being around for supper. It was not a lie so much as an evasion of location, since Edmund had come out to Ytene.
With the portal, that was no great bother at least, not like for everyone else who needed a train and advance scheduling. When Uncle Alexander turned back, his eyes were twinkling. “And how many topics are we discussing before you depart?”
Edmund could make a game of it. He knew how to do that as well as anything else his family had taught him. But they were a little tight on time. He waved a hand. “Three things.” Then he counted off on his fingers. “Tuesday evening, the results of Tuesday evening, and the other results of Tuesday evening.”
“That is not particularly informative, dearest.” Mama looked amused, however.
“You wanted the enumeration, not the summary,” Edmund pointed out, but now he was grinning. “Chronologically, then?” It was the way that made the most sense. Mama flicked her fingers in approval. And it was Mama that counted most here. Papa and Uncle Alexander generally deferred to her in this sort of discussion. They’d ask questions as they saw fit.
Edmund leaned back, cupping his hands around the coffee mug. “I’m sure Master Benton has given you his own summary. As I did once I got a proper chance on Wednesday.”
“Lap mentioned you were lending a hand with recruiting,” Papa said, in the smooth aristocratic drawl he particularly used when he was making a point of what people thought he was. “You were the one making the choice in the moment, but I would like to hear your reasoning.”
Edmund inhaled sharply. It was not the words precisely but rather the framing that caught him. That was one officer to another, senior to junior, but acknowledging the junior’s right to make the choice he’d made. Not taking charge because he was senior. “Sir.”
He took another breath, more to settle himself and decide how to begin, given that his parents clearly had the summary well in hand. “Circe is not her aunt. Nor is she her father or mother. I might well have made a different choice if I had not had Uncle Alexander’s training. But she was sincere about her goals.” He hesitated, then said what he hadn’t named outright yet. “She loves her sisters.” It had been that which had decided him, after all. He had no space to fault someone who had that as her core desire.
There was a silence, one that drew out long enough that Edmund began to worry he’d gone astray. His father eventually cleared his throat. “A good reason to find a different path. Not one I would have thought of, I suspect.”
Mama, though, looked thoughtful. “Does it make a difference here that they were sisters and not brothers? Beyond the name and the mythology.”
Edmund had given a brief thought to that, but not nearly enough of one. He considered again, then said, letting them hear he was working it out as he went. “I think it mattered more that they were younger. That she was trying to do right by siblings who couldn’t make their own choices in the world yet.”
He was looking at all three of them, and he saw the tiny movements, the ones he knew how to spot, of something hitting there. Papa and Uncle Alexander had been younger brothers. While Edmund didn’t know all the stories, they both had been protected by their brothers. Mama was the eldest and had done her own protecting.
Differently, he thought, but that kind of analysis was beyond him in the moment, with three people who all had superb skills in hiding their feelings, even from him. From what Edmund was to each of them. There was another silence, then Mama said, “Shall we leap ahead slightly? What has Lap said to you about the meeting?”
“I’m seeing him next week, most likely. Partly some arrangements for the long vac, getting the brief so I can prepare. By note, he said it was a productive conversation, and that Circe has the language skills he’d been looking for particularly. Also that she was managing the right sort of polish, and that’s trickier to find in combination. He was working on a plan to put her through her paces. Her degree might give her an entry point, actually. Travelling researcher, that sort of thing.” Edmund spread his hands. Mostly he was now saying what everyone in the room already knew, or at least could have reasoned out for themselves.
Papa snorted. “I suppose it would. And the jewels?”
“She is in the process of returning them. Major Manse is sorting oaths to keep her from using her skills in ways that Albion would need to do something about.” That was a topic that Major Manse had only nodded at, but Edmund suspected he would be consulted on some of that in their meeting. If for no other reason than as a test of Edmund’s own level of skill.
Mama nodded. “I’ll have a word with Lap about some of it.” She obviously had some sort of plan for at least a piece of it. Edmund filed that firmly as not his to deal with. Besides, his focus needed to be on the most complex part now. She added after a moment. “I’ve a thought or two about locations for a flat in London for them. And some schooling for the younger ones.” Edmund had long since given up trying to predict where Mama had useful connections.
Papa picked up smoothly. “And Miss Stirling? I hope the experience didn’t upset her?”
“Upset is not quite the word, Papa.” Edmund took another breath. He could dance around this in a dozen ways. They all knew it. And there was no good purpose in it. Better to be plain-spoken here. Begin as he wanted to go on. “I’ve asked if I might court her. A long courtship. There would be problems if she married while still a student. It would not be easy for me either. Two years, then.”
“But a public one?” Mama honed in on that. “Solstice or—” She caught something in his expression. “Winter, then. Assuming things go well. We will want to meet her, of course, when it can reasonably be arranged. I gather she’s agreed you might court in earnest?”
“In principle, yes, and with some discussion of the details still in progress.” Edmund let out a breath. “May I bring her round once we’re done with the Midsummer Faire? I think during might be a bit too chaotic for her.”
“You could easily have a day with her, or an afternoon or an evening. We do not need you handy the entire time.” Papa said it firmly. “You should have a chance to enjoy yourself. We’ll have plenty of help. Not like a few years ago.”
“Even with Ros and Jasper playing?” Edmund asked.
“Stanley’s feeling like he’s got enough polish to help, when it comes to the stables, and Rufus is even more confident of him,” Papa said fondly. “Your mother and Benton and I for the meet and greet and making nice.” The drawl had slid back, and then Papa grinned, suddenly and sharply. “Not that there won’t be some things you can do, but we shall all take our turns at work and play.”
“Point made, Papa.” Edmund swallowed. “You don’t have objections?”
Mama tapped her finger once on Papa’s knee when he showed signs of speaking again. She leaned forward. “Do you have reason to think we’d object?”
“She’s—” Edmund had made lists, in his head and on paper, of Pen’s virtues. But he’d also been forced— by honesty, if nothing else— to list the points of concern. “She’s not from our sort of family. And she doesn’t understand the land magic commitments.”
“Which is a reason to bring her around for our rites here, as the opportunity presents. But those are things people can learn. I have.” Mama was firm now. “Thesan has learned them. We do not formally entertain the way we used to, the sort of thing that required five changes of clothing and twice as many forks. We have resources to be put at her disposal for whatever learning is needed. And as you point out, there is time. The question is how public you and she wish to be, and when.”
